Names: Sherry Altman and Bonnie Quackenbush (George Junior Republic, Freeville)
Title: Science fact and fiction in the movie "The Day after Tomorrow"
Target Audience: High School: Earth Science students
Curriculum Goals: As part of their unit on climate, students will assess their understanding of high and low pressure systems by watching a short clip from the 2004 disaster film about global warming, "The Day after Tomorrow".
Media Literacy Goals - Students will:
understand that filmmakers make unintentional factual errors
identify intentions and goals of feature films in general
develop questions related to climate change events depicted in "The Day after Tomorrow"
question credibility and accuracy in other films with scientific content
become aware of how movies impact public opinion on important societal questions
Other Goals: -feel empowered to question media messages -understand that most media messages have a point of view or bias
Proposed Activities:
Preparation
Several weeks before the unit on climate/weather, show "The Day after Tomorrow" to students in its entirety.
Just prior to this class, teach unit on weather (maps, temperature, air pressure, wind, storms, etc.)
Day of Lesson
1) Present lecture on Low and High Pressure Systems (below)
Low Pressure Systems
-winds blow in and to the left
-all low pressure systems are lower pressure on the inside
-low pressure means air rises
-rising air cools and condensates, making clouds, precipitation
-high pressure is found in the middle of the high pressure system
-high pressure means air sinks
-sinking air hits the ground and spreads out or dissipates
-therefore, there are clear skies, no clouds, no rain
2) Show short clip from "The Day after Tomorrow" (the high pressure system illustration at 51:45-53:10. "Jack is on the phone/ice age" on movie).
3. As a group, students should be able to note invalid points (high pressure is a means to clear weather, not disastrous storms, as film shows).
(The rest of this lesson is modeled after Project Look Sharp's "Twister"/Tornadoes lesson plan.)
4.
-Continue with a discussion about the purpose of this film, and whether it was successful.
-Ask the students what they know about consequences of climate change.
-Ask them to give examples of content they thought was inaccurate, or exaggerated.
-Raise the question of where to go to find out the accuracy of science presented in a movie.
Assessment/Evaluation (how will you know your APP works to meet your goals?): Students will be quizzed shortly after that day to reestablish what they learned.
Resources/Support that will help you in your development of the APP: 1) DVD of "Day After Tomorrow"
2) On-line resources: IMDb, NASA facts, etc
Difficulties/Obstacles to developing your APP:
ZIP, nada, nil....
Planning Steps: 1) Obtain DVD of "The Day after Tomorrow". 2) Obtain lecture notes on Pressure Systems
Application Project Plan (APP) Planning Sheet
Names: Sherry Altman and Bonnie Quackenbush (George Junior Republic, Freeville)
Title: Science fact and fiction in the movie "The Day after Tomorrow"
Target Audience: High School: Earth Science students
Curriculum Goals:
As part of their unit on climate, students will assess their understanding of high and low pressure systems
by watching a short clip from the 2004 disaster film about global warming, "The Day after Tomorrow".
Media Literacy Goals - Students will:
Other Goals:
-feel empowered to question media messages
-understand that most media messages have a point of view or bias
Proposed Activities:
Preparation
Day of Lesson
1) Present lecture on Low and High Pressure Systems (below)
Low Pressure Systems
- -winds blow in and to the left
- -all low pressure systems are lower pressure on the inside
- -low pressure means air rises
- -rising air cools and condensates, making clouds, precipitation
- -names include: depression, tornado, cyclone, hurricane
High Pressure Systems2) Show short clip from "The Day after Tomorrow" (the high pressure system illustration at 51:45-53:10. "Jack is on the phone/ice age" on movie).
3. As a group, students should be able to note invalid points (high pressure is a means to clear weather, not disastrous storms, as film shows).
(The rest of this lesson is modeled after Project Look Sharp's "Twister"/Tornadoes lesson plan.)
4.
-Continue with a discussion about the purpose of this film, and whether it was successful.
-Ask the students what they know about consequences of climate change.
-Ask them to give examples of content they thought was inaccurate, or exaggerated.
-Raise the question of where to go to find out the accuracy of science presented in a movie.
Assessment/Evaluation (how will you know your APP works to meet your goals?):
Students will be quizzed shortly after that day to reestablish what they learned.
Resources/Support that will help you in your development of the APP:
1) DVD of "Day After Tomorrow"
2) On-line resources: IMDb, NASA facts, etc
Difficulties/Obstacles to developing your APP:
ZIP, nada, nil....
Planning Steps:
1) Obtain DVD of "The Day after Tomorrow".
2) Obtain lecture notes on Pressure Systems